It was Sunday evening, the day that Kurt was officially ungrounded, that they were all four sitting around the dinner table. Kurt was attempting to focus on eating his salad while Finn was dragging on about his problems with Rachel.

“I just don’t get it…” he began, “how come I can’t pick the song for our duet every once in a while?” He huffed as he began picking at his food.

Burt was tired of hearing about Finn’s relationships, so when Finn took a break to eat a piece of broccoli he took that as a chance to hear about something else. “Kurt, what about you?”

Kurt was still staring angrily at his food when he heard his name. “What?”

“Whatever happened to that Blaine guy?”

“Who’s Blaine?” His step-mother, Carol, asked.

“Isn’t that the guy that I – ow!” 

Kurt kicked Finn’s foot underneath the table and gave him a death glare before replying. He didn’t want his brother to tell them about the awkward situation he walked in on. “He’s a boy I met about a month ago at the coffee shop. He goes to Dalton.”

“And…?” Carol pushed. She loves to gossip with Kurt, and this is crazy news for her.

“Oh my god he’s totally gorgeous!” Kurt said, practically jumping out of his seat. “He’s amazing; so nice, confident, smart, funny, perfect! He took me out on a date to Breadstix once and…” Kurt talked on and on about him. They’ve only known each other for a month, but he feels like he’s become very close to Blaine. 

“That’s great, honey!” Carol cheered when Kurt was done his monologue. “So what are you guys? Boyfriends?”

Kurt blushed. “Yeah.” Carol squealed excitingly at the confirmation.

“How come I haven’t met this boy yet?” Burt asked, interrupting the happy train.

Kurt went back to his pouty face. “You grounded me. I invited him over for dinner on Friday but he couldn’t come. So I was thinking this Friday he could come over.”

“That’d be perfect!” Carol quipped, and Kurt went back to smiling. “We can make an amazing dinner before he gets here.”

They continued to eat dinner, talking about topics ranging from the hospital to the tire shop and how school is going. Once everyone was done, Carol had to take Finn for a haircut so it was just Kurt and his father.

Little did he know that Burt was going to sit down and have a talk with him. He wished that his wife was there with him to talk about this stuff, and he knew that once he sat Kurt down that Kurt would be thinking the same thing. He tried to convince Carol to do it but she said it was “a man to man tradition” or something like that. Tradition my ass.

He watched as Kurt put the last plate in the dish washer then spoke; “Kurt.”

Kurt turned around, smiling. “Yeah dad?” 

“Sit down for a sec, there’s something we need to talk about.”

Kurt was worried; after his heart attack last year, he was always afraid that something else would go wrong with his father. He never wanted to leave him alone, but he hasn’t had another attack in a long time, so he was starting to be less worrisome about the situation. He really hoped this conversation had nothing to do with his health. Kurt gulped and pulled out a chair to sit down in, “What’s up?” 

“So,” his father began, “I know that you’re getting older. You’re practically a young adult –“

“Uhm, yeah,” Kurt said, raising an eyebrow.

“ – and you’re starting to meet other people. Well, other guys…”

OH MY GOD NO!!!!!

That was the only thought going through Kurt’s brain right now. He knew what was coming. He saw the awkward look on his father’s face and guessed that he looked the same. He couldn’t even meet his dad’s eyes. He wondered how easy it would be to escape.

“And right now I know you’re dating that boy,” Burt continued. Kurt would’ve corrected him, saying that his name is Blaine, but he couldn’t even speak at the moment. He just sat there like a deer caught in headlights. “And, when two people like each other, they want to be… intimate.”

If it wasn’t such an awkward situation, Kurt would have laughed at the incredibly funny look on his father’s face. He sat with his arms crossed in front of him, attempting to guard himself off. “Dad, please –“

Burt cut him off, “Kurt, no, you’re getting older and I feel that we need to have this conversation.” Kurt shut his mouth. His father reached back towards the counter and handed Kurt a few papers – pamphlets, he realized – and turned back towards him starting to talk once more. “Now, I don’t know much about, well, boys being with each other – from what I can tell, something went down in the tent in Brokeback Mountain – but otherwise I’m pretty clueless, so I got you these.” He inhaled sharply. “Listen, most boys think that sex is just sex. Girls, on the other hand, know that it’s a way to connect with another person. It’s an intimate gesture, and it can make you vulnerable. I know way too many guys who get way too far over their heads with relationships and they end up getting hurt. In your situation, though, it’s two guys, who think sex is just sex.”

Kurt looked down, biting his lip. He was glad that, as awkward as it was, his father seemed to truly care about him. He continued to stare at the floor when he father carried on. “Just… don’t throw yourself around like you don’t matter.” Kurt looked up. “’Cuz you matter, Kurt.”

Kurt gave a half smile, looking back down at the floor before looking at his father. “Thanks dad. I think I’m just going to go up to my room and look at these new… pamphlets.”

“Alright,” his father sighed in relief. “I love you Kurt.”

“Love you too, dad,” he replied, running towards the stairs and down to his room. He found that conversation incredibly awkward, but he knew it was going to happen at some point. He’s glad that it was over and done with now.

He threw the pamphlets on his bedside table and flopped onto his bed, his face smothered in his pillow. After finding it difficult to breathe he brought his head to the side. He caught a sight of the pamphlets his father gave him, reading one of the titles.

“Don’t choke – literally and figuratively,” his eyes went as wide as saucers, “Seriously!?”

----------------------------------------------

Blaine now stood at the front of his brother, Cooper’s, apartment, his hands shaking and his lips in a tight line. This is it; the day he tells Cooper about being gay. He thought about chickening out, but he knew that he had to do it at some point. His brother didn’t seem as homophobic as his parents. In fact, at one point he though Cooper had a friend that was gay, but he hadn’t seen the boy much anymore, so he wasn’t too sure. Cooper could be a bit self-absorbed at some times – he thought he was the best actor out there – but he was always good to Blaine, and supported him no matter what. He remembered his grade 7 science project that everyone thought was completely ridiculous; the effect that different genres of music have on people’s moods. Cooper had helped him out, volunteering to test it out and to help him write up the report and make the board look cool. Even his parents thought it was a little bit of a ridiculous idea, but his brother helped him throughout the whole experience. He was hoping that Coop would act the same way with him coming out.

He fidgeted with the sleeves of his leather jacket, tugging on his lip ring and debating on whether he should knock on the door or run away screaming. He thought about the one word he texted Kurt when he was having issues with Karofsky; Courage. About how strong Kurt was, and how he used that word to stand up for himself and be strong. Now it was Blaine’s turn to be strong. He knocked on the door rapidly, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet until he could hear the muffled thunking noise of feet behind Cooper’s door. He smiled nervously when his brother opened and answered, ushering him inside.

"Blaine, my man!” Coop greeted enthusiastically. “How are you?”

“Hey Coop,” Blaine spoke softly. “I’m good, you?”

“Decent! I made coffee. You’ve probably eaten dinner already, right?”

“Yeah.” He followed his brother into his tiny kitchen, noticing it almost looked homey; more than his house did, at least.

His brother was 21 now, in the middle of attending a University a few hours away from home. He lived in residence for a year or two until he decided to get an apartment by himself. His father wanted him to stay in Westerville and study at Ohio State, but he didn’t want to stay at home any longer than he had to. Blaine’s dad paid for most of the tuition, but he wasn’t happy about it. He remembered Cooper and his father bickering all the time about something, but couldn’t remember what it was.

They sat and talked for a while, Cooper talking about University and Blaine talking about Dalton and the Warblers. Their conversation soon turned into the crazy parties he’s been to and, to Coop’s surprise, Blaine doing the same.

“Since when do you party, little bro?”

“Since the summer began. My friends usually host a few every once in a while.”

His brother’s head tilted to the side. “Wes and David have parties?”

“Uhm..” Blaine hesitated, “no, my friends Mark and Rob.”

“Hm…” Cooper sounded, taking in Blaine’s appearance. “Are they the ones that convinced you to get piercings? Or have you just joined a screamo band.”

Blaine chuckled, “No, I have not joined a screamo band.”

“I guess not; your hairs too short.”

Blaine full on laughed now, placing his head in his hands. He knew that this was the moment. He brought his head out of his hands and begun to speak, hoping that the words would flow out of his mouth. “Actually, I dress like this because…”

He froze for a moment; this was it. He would tell his brother. He hoped that Cooper would be understanding. “Mom and dad don’t exactly approve of this, nor my behavior for the past while.” His voice cracked. “It’s my way of… deflecting certain topics and aspects about me.” His brother was looking at him with a soft expression. “Coop, I’m… I’m gay.”

The one second of silence seemed like millions. He couldn’t move. He didn’t know what to do now, other than wait for Cooper’s reaction, which would hopefully be good. 

“I know.”

“What?” Blaine snapped out of his worrisome stance, looking over at his brother.

“Call it a brotherly instinct – or maybe the fact that when we used to watch Disney movies together you’d always get excited when the princes came on the screen – but I know. I’ve known for a while, but I wasn’t sure if you did.”

“Oh.” Blaine wasn’t sure of what he should do now. He stood there nervously, awaiting some sort of biased reaction from his brother.

“It’s okay, Blaine. This doesn’t make you any different. You’re still the same old guy you were thirty seconds ago, and I still love you.”

Blaine let out a shaky breath, standing up from the kitchen table and walking over to his brother, wrapping him up in a tight hug. His brother brought his arms up around his shoulders, mimicking his hug. “It’s okay, baby bro.”

“Thank you,” Blaine mumbled into Cooper’s shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut, wanting to hold onto this moment forever. He knew that Cooper would be there for him, no matter what. His parents could hate him all they wanted, but his brother could never hate him. He felt incredibly vulnerable, as if he were young again, watching those same old Disney movies with his brother and having Cooper comfort him when Snow White ate the poison apple or Cinderella got locked in the attic. His brother was still holding in a comforting hug. “I love you, Coop.”

“I love you too, Blaine.”